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Culture-Independent Analysis of Lactic Acid Bacteria Diversity Associated with Mezcal Fermentation

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Abstract

Mezcal is an alcoholic beverage obtained from the distillation of fermented juices of cooked Agave spp. plant stalks (agave must), and each region in Mexico with denomination of origin uses defined Agave species to prepare mezcal with unique organoleptic characteristics. During fermentation to produce mezcal in the state of Tamaulipas, not only alcohol-producing yeasts are involved, but also a lactic acid bacterial community that has not been characterized yet. In order to address this lack of knowledge on this traditional Mexican beverage, we performed a DGGE-16S rRNA analysis of the lactic acid bacterial diversity and metabolite accumulation during the fermentation of a typical agave must that is rustically produced in San Carlos County (Tamaulipas, Mexico). The analysis of metabolite production indicated a short but important malolactic fermentation stage not previously described for mezcal. The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis of the 16S rRNA genes showed a distinctive lactic acid bacterial community composed mainly of Pediococcus parvulus, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus composti, Lactobacillus parabuchneri, and Lactobacillus plantarum. Some atypical genera such as Weissella and Bacillus were also found in the residual must. Our results suggest that the lactic acid bacteria could strongly be implicated in the organoleptic attributes of this traditional Mexican distilled beverage.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support granted by the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (SIP-IPN, México) Project funds SIP2008-0081, SIP2008-0597, and SIP2009-0613 and to Project CONACyT-Básica2006-57576 granted by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (México).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Blvd. Del Maestro esq. Elias Piña, Col. Narciso Mendoza, 88710, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico

    J. A. Narváez-Zapata, I. C. Rodríguez-Luna & C. P. Larralde-Corona

  2. Facultad de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico

    R. A. Rojas-Herrera

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  1. J. A. Narváez-Zapata
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  2. R. A. Rojas-Herrera
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  3. I. C. Rodríguez-Luna
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  4. C. P. Larralde-Corona
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Correspondence to J. A. Narváez-Zapata.

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Narváez-Zapata, J.A., Rojas-Herrera, R.A., Rodríguez-Luna, I.C. et al. Culture-Independent Analysis of Lactic Acid Bacteria Diversity Associated with Mezcal Fermentation. Curr Microbiol 61, 444–450 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-010-9636-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-010-9636-z

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